


Until Sleeping Dragons Wake

by nothingeverlost



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-23
Updated: 2012-09-23
Packaged: 2017-11-14 20:33:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingeverlost/pseuds/nothingeverlost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Rum.”  The single word was all she could get out before she buried her face in his chest, clinging to his shirt and wetting his tie with her tears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Until Sleeping Dragons Wake

The house was quiet. Too quiet, and Gold tried to rack his brain for a late meeting Belle might have mentioned, but it was a Monday and it was rare for her to have anything planned. Even more odd than the silence was the darkness; when night fell Belle had a tendency to turn on the light in whatever room she entered, and never turn them off. Sometimes he came home to find every light on the first floor on, even the bathroom and sometimes the guest room. His Belle was not overly fond of the dark or small spaces.

“Belle?” He called out, listening carefully for a reply. None came. One by one he checked the library, kitchen, dining room and living room. All were empty. He climbed the stairs, heading straight for their room. At first glance he thought it was empty at well, until a fluttering of motion from the doorway to the bathroom caught his attention. She was there, curled up on the floor with only a foot crossing the threshold into the bedroom. He rushed to her side, tossing his cane away, sinking to his knees and not giving a damn about the sharp pain.

“Belle, my love, what’s wrong?” He pulled her onto his lap, cradling her in his arms much as he had when she’d fallen from the ladder, but with more tenderness.

“Rum.” The single word was all she could get out before she buried her face in his chest, clinging to his shirt and wetting his tie with her tears. 

“It’s alright, Belle. Whatever’s wrong will be alright. I promise.” He held her tighter, as if he could protect her from the world. Her stomach ached; his Belle did not cry, and never sobbed so hard that her body shook. She didn’t cry when the ogres were almost at the door of her home, or when a beast demanded her sacrifice in return for her peoples’ safely. She didn’t cry over nights spent in a dungeon or when he’d shook her and kicked her out of his home. She’d only shed a single tear when her father had refused to come to their wedding. Never, in the last world or this one, had he seen her cry like this. “Please love, tell me.”

“Whale… appointment… pregnant…” She didn’t loosen her grip on his shirt, making it hard to catch more than a few words. It didn’t matter, though, not when he heard the word ‘pregnant.’

“A babe?” Nothing could be more perfect than a child made of their love. It wasn’t something they’d discussed, and knowing what she did of his son he could understand that she was troubled, but relief flooded him. This he could fix. He could reassure her that he wanted this child, and they would celebrate together. They would plan and talk about names. Grace, for a girl, sprung to mind; he hoped it was a girl, one who looked just like her mother. He would shower Belle with gifts and humor every strange craving she had. “Belle, my heart, this is…”

“No.” She tried to pull away from him, but when his hold on her would not allow it she lowered her head to stare at her lap. “I’m not… I thought I might be. My clothes were getting tighter and I thought… I _wanted_ , Rum. More than anything I wanted Whale to tell me that I was pregnant.”

“What did he say?” The moment he asked he wanted to take back the question. He didn’t want to know. Knowing meant that he couldn’t un-know it. It meant that whatever secret she carried was real, and as much as he wanted to take that burden from her he didn’t want to look inside and see the truth.

She looked up at him, blue eyes dry now of tears. And even before she spoke he knew. The world was about to fall apart more completely than it did with the curse shattered everything.

“No.” He wanted to cover his ears. He didn’t want to know. He begged of the gods he’d abandoned centuries ago to make whatever she was about to say wrong. He begged the universe to take away the pain in her eyes and give it to him instead.

“Doctor Whale said the cancer’s very advanced. He said…” Her voice broke, her lips trembling. They tasted of salt when he kissed her, and it wasn’t until the kiss ended that he realized the salt was his own tears.

“You are my wife, and nothing will part us, Belle. I promise nothing will come between us.” He held her face between his hands and kissed her again, desperately, trying to force his breath and life into her slender body.

It made sense, suddenly, why Regina had only smiled and waved her hand when their engagement had been announced. Why the witch had never tried to come between them. This had been the plan from the start, the reason he’d walked into the Storybrooke library three days after the curse had been cast and found his True Love waiting for him. She’d planned something me much more insidious than he’d believed her capable of plotting.

He would kill the bitch, slowly. He would make her watch the curse shatter around her. he would destroy her.

The curse would not break until the girl returned. Twenty-three more years. A lifetime longer than his Belle had.

It was a struggle to stand, but he did and carried her the aching steps to the bed. She laid completely still, looking up at him.

“Hold me, Rum,” she whispered, a tear falling down her cheek.

“I won’t ever let you go.” He crawled into the bed next to her, pulling her to his chest, and buried his face in her hair. She was his, and he’d be damned if he let anyone or anything take her from him.

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if this is a one shot or the start of something more.


End file.
